Chapter 267: Ruin Expedition (31)

[Looks like the upgrading paid off!]

'Hell yeah!'

The arrow that materialised in the bow consumed 45 Essence. Lee pulled the string further backwards and he could feel an enormous power encased in the arrow.

'That should do.'

The next action made Hudson frown.

The bow was raised to the air and the arrow pointed at the sky. The students were about 70 metres from Lee Shen when they saw this development.

They halted their steps and eagerly waited for the release.

*fwish*

The sound of the bowstring cutting the air was so dull that a normal person could have not heard it. But the students did hear the faint voice as the arrow disappeared in the clouds in an instant.

The puppets did not hear the sound but felt something some motion from afar. The puppets turned in the approximate location of the party and started into the wilderness. Luckily the twin stars were still rising and the visibility was poor.

Before the puppets could register an attack and defend against it, the ground under their foot was crumbled along with the visibly disintegrating wooden parts!

What students saw was a stick-like figure descending with great speed. The next instant, the area was devoid of gravity. Everything was floating for a moment before the deafening boom went off!

BOOM!!

The blast threw an enormous wave of ash and dust in all directions. Lee quickly turned around and dashed in the direction of the students. The rippling wave of dust pushed his back and gave him a boost.

Seeing this, the students also fled. They did not stop until they covered a distance of approximately 18 kilometres.

It was noteworthy that they ran for that long as they could feel the shockwave pushing their backs!

---

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7 AM.

5,975,800 Essence harvested.

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The Map has been compiled.

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'Thank goodness!'

Lee thanked every known and unknown gods while summoning the Map. He was unknown about the surprises he was yet to know.

The screen came appearing and it showed a jungle which was at least the size of Madagascar. Beyond that expanse of vegetation lies a relatively barren plateau.

The Map pinpointed the location of rivers and hostile beings in the entire sub-space. It was like a cheat code to avoid every single threat with ease.

It took Lee some time to find the exit portal since it was underground. It silently lay in an inconspicuous cave waiting for someone to wander in.

The distance from where they were to the cave was approximately 22 kilometres. The jungle alone made their journey tiresome and time-consuming.

Quickly remembering the coordinates of the cave and the cultivators, Lee Shen closed the Map and released the pile of monster corpses.

Upon seeing the crystalline Glass Scorpion bodies, the duo let go of the Iron Fox corpses.

"You need to eat to survive, and you need to prepare the meat to eat."

Lee Shen stood up and said this before walking away. He walked to the nearest tree and climbed on it effortlessly. Though the action seems carefree, he was found to stand guard for these kids.

The monster duo crunched and cracked the crystalline shells of the arachnids and the students saw that the corpses are lessening by each passing second.

So, the fire affinity students were asked to create fire and maintain it while the ice affinity students skin and clean them. The water affinity students used their Mana to create water to wash away the blood and clean the meat. The remaining students were stationed by Gillian to help others.

----

Soon, the smell of badly burnt meat rose in the air. It was neither repulsive nor attracting. The skinned and cleaned meat of Iron Foxes were cooked without any proper utensils. This the quality of the food was greatly affected.

But that does not mean that these kids are chefs by talent!

The students had no other way than chewing down the partially burnt and properly cooked flesh while throwing and scratching the excessively burnt portion away.

Glancing at their faces, Lee was like a platoon commander who oversees the rookie soldiers showing repulsive faces upon seeing their rations.

"Don't feel down. Retry and learn how to cook well. This is a survival skill that everyone must be known of."

Lee Shen spoke as he sat on a high branch and his eyes were fixed afar. The students quickly realised that this was a chance to learn to properly control their elements as their survival depended on it.

----

About 10 minutes have passed.

The aroma of properly cooked meat lured many beasts to the vicinity. The students took their turns in striking down these beasts while the others either prepared or cooked the flesh.

Within half an hour, all the Iron Foxes we're skinned and cooked properly. The meat had the unique tenderness which was coupled with the particular sturdiness. This made the meat of Iron Foxes an unexpected delicacy.

The presence of Fero and Xena in the vicinity restricted many beasts from coming closer. While the students cooked the meat, the bloodied water and fox skins became a satisfactory combo to the monster duo.

Lee Shen silently gulped down a bottle of goat milk which he made from the Workshop while the students got busy with cooking. He did saw the beasts coming closer with the hope of receiving a bite but ended up taking strikes.

The students let most monsters go as they were not worthy of killing them. Killing them would only invite the attention of many powerful beasts.

Except for a few tens of Glass Scorpions, the remaining had gone down the stomachs of the Perrafin and hyena. Those that were taken away by the students contained beast cores.

After carefully taking the cores away, the students let the duo have it as food.

"Professor, we have acquired 31 Glass Scorpion cores."

Lee, who was sitting while leaning on the tree trunk, asked as he glanced at Gillian.

"Gillian, are you perhaps suffering from memory loss?"